Sweet but Spicy: ON HOLD
by Fandomgirl1012
Summary: Yu was not the Only one who escaped the vampires lair on that fateful day. His twin sister, Ami (Pronounced Ah-me), escaped with him too. Becoming a part of the Moon Demon company, Ami meets Yoichi the sweet and sensitive archer. Still grieving over the deaths of her and Yu's family will Yoichi help Ami move on from her family's deaths and open her heart once again? Don't own SOTE
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I ran with the rest, struggling to keep up. My breath came out in sharp pants. I cast no lingering looks at the bodies littering the street. I was too scared to. If I looked at the bodies, I would stop and break down. We had been out, wandering around as a group, window shopping, and then all the adults had started collapsing. I had watched as one of the clerks in the stores had fallen right over, her eyes dull and empty. I nearly crashed into Yu as he stopped in front of a store. A man struggled out of the store and threw up blood as he fell over, dead. Yu grabbed my hand as we retreated without a word. I struggled to keep pace with my brother. I was not as athletic as he was, I was small for my age, though I suppose that came with being the younger twin of us two.

Mika led the group into the orphanage and we ran up the stairs, towards the upper room where Akane, Fumie, and Chihiro were. They hadn't wanted to go window shopping with the rest of us. As Mika opened the door, he stopped there, frozen, then ran over to Akane who cried out, "Mika, I don't think she's breathing." Mika called over his shoulder, "Ami, Yu, keep them over there!" Yu corralled the other children away from the Director, who was dead as I hoisted Taichi up and into my arms and hurried over to my brother and the other kids.

As we watched Mika and Akane try to help the director, a thud came from the stairwell, Yu spun around and backed myself and the children closer to the others, keeping us away from the door. A shadow passed over the glass window to our right, and then it shattered spraying us with broken glass. Akane cried out and grasped Yu's jacket, while I did my best to shield Taichi and Ako behind me.

Two strange men with red eyes entered the room through the window and the door. "Come with us." One of the men said. Yu opened his mouth to argue but I put my hand on his arm and looked at him with pleading eyes. Yu shut his mouth and we were led outside where a truck was waiting out front. They loaded us into it and the men went to the front. They got in and began to drive, where to none of the children knew. Taichi snuggled into Yu's side and sat between my brother and I. I laid my head onto Yu's shoulder and he looked down at me with concerned eyes. I closed my eyes and let myself drift into sleep.

 **Four Years Later…**

We were like rats in a maze. We were given the illusion of freedom, but we were just animals to the vampires. It had been four years since life on the surface was wiped out by the disease. Four years since I had seen the sun. Four years since we had been "saved" by the vampires and brought down to this city of theirs to serve as walking blood bags.

Today it was Yu's, Mika's and my day to go and have our blood sucked away by machines for the vampires to drink. We walked forward in lines to be checked off by vampires to ensure that we were all contributing. Yu walked forward and said "Yuichiro Hyakuya." To the vampire and was waved forward. Following him was "Mikaela Hyakuya" who was also waved forward. The final member of our party was "Ami Hyakuya" Myself. We walked into the large hospital like room and we were split up, each of us being led to a different bed. I laid down and one of the vampires walked over and jammed a needle attached to the tube into my throat. I hissed as he turned the machine on and my blood began to be sucked out of my body. _Bastard,_ I thought, as the siphoning ended after about 30 minutes and he again carelessly yanked the needle out and handed me one of the nutrient bags that was filled with stuff that was supposed to help us raise our blood production. I met up with Mika and Yu at the exit and we walked out together. Mika and I sat quietly on the steps that were further away and drank our nutrient bags while Yu paced around muttering. As Mika finished his bag and let out a disgusted noise, I giggled at his expression and finished mine off as well, with the only sign of my discomfort being the disgusted expression on my face. Yu let out a frustrated noise and crushed the bag in his hands. "Stop wasting it. Do you want to get sick?" Mika said quietly. "Yu, you really should drink it. They have no consideration for how anyone feels or their welfare when they take blood. You know that if you don't replenish your blood then it won't matter to them. They will drain you anyways. "I agreed with Mika in a whisper.

"It's nasty, I won't drink this crap." Yu complained. Mika sighed and said, "You need to stop being so picky." "And you need to stop doing everything the fangs tell you to do. Both of you." Yu shot back at us. "I do what is in my own best interests Yu, and it's in my interests to not have the fangs suck me dry because I wasn't drinking the nutrient bags." I retorted. Yu let out a huff and looked away from the both of us.

"It's not that bad to be honest." Mika said, causing Yu and I to turn and glare at him. "Seriously?!" Yu exclaimed. "At least we're alive. More importantly we get to live with our family. Don't you think that's enough?" Mika responded as he collected his and my used nutrient bags and threw them away. "I'm not their livestock." Yu muttered. "We're people not animals." I agreed. Yu may be more vocal about his opinions of the vampires but our sentiments towards them were exactly the same. "You too Ami? It's like talking to brick walls! That stubbornness won't keep them away from your blood!" Mika proclaimed and Yu threw his bag at him. It landed a few paces away, right next to some kids coloring on the ground with chalk. Both who were in the paths of two vampires emerging from a corridor.

Yu stood and let out a "HEY!" as the two vampires walked right over the kids, stepping on their hands and leaving them in whimpering balls. Yu ran right up to the vamps and knocked into them, one of them lifted him up as he began to shout, "Apologize, do it or else!" Mika ran over and began to plead with them to release him. I had a more violent, yet, effective method. I ran over and chomped down on the blood suckers arm. He dropped my brother and lifted me up instead. I looked at his arm and with some satisfaction noticed I had drawn blood. I then spit on his boots and gave him a bloody smile. He held me over the side of the wall and my heart seized with fear. I refused to let it show on my face. Mika held Yu back as he fought to get at the vampire holding me and continued to plead for the vampire to put me down safely. "Shut up Mika." I said as I continued to stare into the vamps cold, dead eyes. "What's going on here?" a smooth voice echoed through the air. _Lord Ferrid_ , one of the vampire nobles. The vampire holding me threw me down onto the concrete, and continued silently with his buddy. I coughed, trying to make sure I didn't have the nasty taste of vampire left in my mouth. Yu ran over and helped me up, dusting me off and checking me over. "I'm fine Yu." I muttered, shoving his hands away. I was watching Mika and Lord Ferrid talk, Lord Ferrid listening with an amused expression while Mika downplayed what had just happened. Lord Ferrid invited Mika to his mansion tonight and he cast his eyes over Yu and I. "Will the troublemakers be coming as well?" Mika ran over and clapped his hands over my brother's mouth before he could say anything too vulgar. "I would rather drop dead." I muttered and Ferrid came closer to us, stopping in front of me, running his gloved hand over my cheek. "What was that my dear?" I restrained the urge to bit down on his hand as I had done to that other guard. Instead I smiled sweetly and said, "Nothing would please me more my lord. Though forgive my brother he is rather, shy." Ferrid smiled and withdrew his hand, "Well then I will see Mika and what's your name girl?" I grit my teeth while smiling and answered, "Ami, my lord." Ferrid continued saying, "I will see Mika and Ami tonight then." I smiled and left after Mika who had dragged Yu with him when he had left.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I caught up with Mika and Yu just in time to hear Yu begin to shout about how he had the vampire where he had wanted him and was going to teach him a lesson. "You can't really believe that..." Mika said. "Get real, we don't stand a chance against the vampires." I chimed in, causing Yu to turn around and glare at me. "How will we know if we never try?" I opened my mouth to retort but Mika interrupted me with a "Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can keep fooling yourself, but you need to be more careful, you can't keep getting into serious trouble." "He's right Yu, I can't keep bailing you out of trouble every time you get into it. I'm getting real sick of the taste of vampire in my mouth." I agreed with Mika, I hated the vampires but Yu was being reckless. "If Lord Ferrid hadn't come along, Ami would be dead and probably you too." Mika said seriously.

Yu had been steadily walking away from us but with the mention of Ferrid's name, he stopped. "About that, he seemed to know you pretty well." Yu said in an accusatory tone. "Of course he does, we have a deal, I give him blood, and he gives me whatever I want." I glared at Mika, "Mika what the hell are you thinking?! The only reason I agreed to let him drink from me was to save Yu and save myself from getting executed for rudeness." Mika turned to me with a stern expression on his face. "You have to use your head to survive in this place." Yu came up and Mika turned around. Yu smacked Mika on the head and turned to me, a disappointed look in his eyes. "Stop sacrificing yourself for me. You've done that ever since we were little, stop it..." Yu whirled around and stalked off, pausing as Mika called out, "Yu, wait, isn't their anything you would want?" Yu called back, "Not from either of you!"

I walked close to Mika and felt his head where Yu had hit him. "There's no bump, does it hurt?" I asked. "Nah, I'm fine." Mika said, shaking it off. "Come one, I know what I want from Ferrid for my services tonight." I nodded and followed him as we walked towards Ferrid's mansion. "You know, Yu isn't really upset with you. He just hates the vampires." I said softly. Mika looked over at me and smiled then pulled me into a hug, "Yeah, I know, I just wish he would let himself depend on us." He said sadly. 'He does depend on you, we are a family after all. I can still remember that first day at Hyakuya..."

" _Everyone, let's give a warm welcome to Yuichiro and Ami, they are the newest members of our family, so be on your best behavior." The director had said. Yu had wandered over to the bag full of our clothes and I followed him. Mika had walked over with Kyouta and Ako. "Hey Yu! Hi Ami! My name's Mikaela and I'm an orphan too, so I know how you feel. I was sad at first but now I have a big family. If you two would like, you can be a part of it…" I hid behind my older brother as he went off on Mika, "You think that means anything to me?! You want to know why I'm here?! I'm here because my Dad went crazy and tried to kill me… and my mom… my mom was so convinced I was a demon child that she committed suicide. They hated me but Ami was perfect, but because of me she got dragged here too. You think you know how I feel, well you don't! Keep your family, I don't want any part of it!" I pulled away from Yu and smacked him on the arm. 'Wha-"He looked down at me as I stared up at him. "Aren't we family Yu? You said that you don't want to be family but you promised me that we always would be!" I started to cry. I had been so scared, that Yu was going to leave me like my mom and Dad had. "Ami, don't cry, don't cry, you and I are family." Yu had begun to panic at the sight of my tears and he pulled me into a big hug. His hugs are the best. Mika had been watching us silently, then he extended his hand and said, "Wow, that must have been really hard, but starting today, everything is going to get better." Yu had stared at Mika's hand like it was some strange creature. I had risen and taken his hand and pulled Yu with me. Smiling, I had said, "Okay then, it's settled, we're family!"_

"Ami, Ami?" Mika's voice drew me out of my memories of happier times. "We're here." I stared up at a monstrous mansion, larger than any of the buildings I had seen except for the castle, which none of us were permitted to go near. "We're here to see Lord Ferrid, he's expecting us." Mika said to the guard at the entrance. He nodded and allowed us to enter the building.

The main hall was the definition of opulence. Thick rugs covered the floor, red of course, and a crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. "Ah young Mikaela and Ami, what a pleasure to have you at my home tonight." Mika bowed and I curtsied to the vampire noble. "So what will you be having from me tonight Mika? A new toy perhaps, or a book?" Ferrid said it while smiling though I could detect the mockery in it. "If it won't trouble you my lord, then perhaps some fresh meat, and vegetables to make curry with for my family." Mika replied easily. "Oh dear Mika, whatever would they do without you?" Ferrid made a motion with his hand and a vampire servant stepped forward, holding a basket of fresh meat and vegetables. "Go ahead Mika and deliver it to your family. Miss Ami will stay here in my company, though I should ask, what would you like from me?" Ferrid asked turning to me with that cruel razor blade of a smile. "I would like a new pair of glasses for Chihiro, my sister, her current ones are cracked." I said with as much calmness as I could muster. "Mika deliver the glasses along with your curry please." Mika bowed once more, took the basket that now had a pair of glasses in it and left, sending me a casual glance on his way out though, I could perceive some worry in it. I gave a tiny nod and he vanished out the door to deliver our hard won supplies.

"So Ami, do tell me, was that little boy with you earlier today your brother?" Ferrid said casually while going to sit on the throne in the hall. I moved slightly closer to the throne when he ordered it, and sat by his feet. _How does Mika do this? This submission to a vampire, it makes me want to hurl!_ "Yes my lord, he was my twin, though he is the elder of us two." Ferrid's eyes widened slightly, "Twins, how… fascinating." Ferrid's voice held some unknown variable with that statement. It put me on edge. "My dear girl I have one other guest coming over tonight, so I shall wait to, have a drink. However your dinner is ready now, should you care for it." A vampire servant appeared with a wave of his hand, and led me down to the kitchen. A feast was before my eyes, there was chicken, and mashed potatoes! I dug in with gusto, if I was to become those mosquitoes meal, then I was going to eat well for it!

Mika arrived a few minutes later and sat with me, together we devoured the entirety of the food. A servant reappeared and escorted us to where I assumed Ferrid's dining room was. Ferrid and another vampire, some noble I had never seen before, were sitting at the table, laughing. "Ah, the feast is here. Which would you like?" Ferrid asked the vampire beside him. Her eyes flicked over Mika and me and then she licked her lips. "I want the girl." It was not merely a statement, it was command and Mika gave me a slight shove forward. I walked the rest of the way as a prisoner to execution. _Yu will never forgive me for this._ The vampire pulled me forward and sank her fangs into my neck. I wanted to scream, it hurt like hell! I saw Ferrid doing the same to Mika but the only sign it was uncomfortable for him was the slight widening of his eyes. The vampire drinking from me stopped for a moment and turned to Ferrid with a bloody mouth. "Ferrid, you must try this girl's blood, it is delicious!" Ferrid pulled off Mika and came over to us, then he bit into me and I almost blacked out from the pain. I had my eyes squeezed tightly shut and I was biting my lip, attempting to be like Mika, strong and silent. I watched as he slipped out of the room. Sometime later, I had no clue if it was minutes or hours later, he slid back in. Shortly after that Ferrid and the female vampire released me and I fell, the only thing stopping my descent to the floor was Mika as he caught me. "Ah poor dear, perhaps we took too much, fetch her a nutrient packet." A vampire servant came back within moments and handed Mika a packet for me. He carefully helped me to drink while Ferrid watched with amusement. After a few moments the nutrients had begun to help and I could stand with Mika's help. "Thank you, you two may go and Ami, I hope you will become as regular as Mika, your blood is quite delicious." Ferrid let out a laugh as we left, Mika helping me limp into the night, as we made our way home.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Mika helped me to struggle up the steps to our front door. He struggled to push the door open as I muttered, "I'm sorry." I hated to be a burden. "Its fine, I hope there is still some curry left, you could use some more food." He said but I shook my head. "I just want to sleep." Mika shrugged and helped me over to the ladder that led up to our sleeping mats. He began to push me up as I struggled to use my arms, which felt like lead weights.

I felt a hand encircle my wrist and looked up from the steps to see Yu pulling me up into the loft. Mika popped up behind me and widened his eyes in surprise when he say Yu holding me up. "You're still up. I'm touched." Mika said with a matter of fact tone. "Whatever." Yu looked away from Mika down at me, his eyes held a touch of concern. I gave my older brother a weak smile. I was still in pretty bad shape. "Don't tell me you're still mad?" Mika crawled over to us and sat next to me. Yu looked away from Mika and said, "Course not, I ate your curry, so we're even." I frowned up at Yu, and Mika did the same. "Kidding, all the kids really enjoyed it though. Chihiro loved her new glasses, she was glad to be able to see clearly again." I smiled up at Yu. My brother could act tough all he wanted, but I could tell he was just a big softy underneath all of his attitude. "What did you have to do for them? ... Idiots." Yu asked quietly then answered his own question. "Next time Ami, we're trading my blood. You look really pale." I mock glared up at Yu, "Who would want your yucky blood." At Yu's affronted look I giggled and Mika chimed in, "Kidding, forget it, you need to focus on defeating the vampires. Just leave the rest to me." I pouted and spoke, "What about me? I'm not chopped liver." Mika laughed but Yu frowned and flicked my forehead. "You two can't take on all the burden. I'm not stupid, I know how strong the vampires are. I know that beating them is impossible. "Mika held up a finger and stopped Yu in his tracks. "I don't want to hear it, these kids look up to you, and they hang onto your every word. We can beat the fangs, we won't lose, and it gives them hope. It gives all of us hope." Mika was crying at this point and I scooted away from Yu over to Mika and gave him a hug. I said to Yu, "You give us hope big brother. I may not be happy when you try to get yourself killed, but that courage helps us have faith that someday it will get better. Now enough sap, can someone feed me please?!" I complained and Mika laughed while Yu groaned and shook his head with a smile on his face.

Mika and Yu help me down the stairs and together carry me to a seat at the table. "Sorry." I blushed. "Stop apologizing." Yu mutters and I stick my tongue out in response. Yu props me against him while Mika went to fix some leftovers. "What did those bastards do to you Ami, you're pale and cold." Yu questions me. I lean my head against his shoulder and whisper, "A lady vampire drank from me, I must've tasted good because she called Ferrid over, they fed from me at the same time, and they took lots of blood." Yu growls and looks away from me to the wall. "Yu, don't be mad." I tugged on his sleeve and he refused to look at me. "Come on Yu please, I just didn't want you to get hurt, don't be mad come on big brother, don't be mad." I pleaded with him. I hated it when Yu and I fought, I feared that one day he wouldn't be my big brother anymore. It was irrational but it was what I felt. Yu sighed and turned back to me and pulled me into a hug. "I'm not mad, why would I be mad at you but not at Mika, that's just stupid." I smiled at Yu's gruff way of showing that he loved me.

Mika turned the corner, bringing with him the curry and rice left over from dinner. "Ami here, eat up, I gave you an extra-large portion, you need it to keep up your strength. Here's some for you too Yu, actually eat this time though." Mika passed out the bowls and I dug in, Akane was a great cook, it always tasted good what she made for dinner. Yu didn't accept his bowl and pushed it back towards Mika. "No it's yours, I don't want any." He protested. "Too bad" Mika said, placing in front of Yu. "That wasn't a request, it's an order." Mika said, Yu's eyes flared and he began to complain, "Why do I have to take orders from you?" His protests ceased when he say the gun Mika had drawn and was pointing at him. I began to scoot closer to Yu, for a moment I was frightened of what that gun meant. Guns were something I knew all too well from my time at my old home. Mika let the gun fall however and offered it to Yu. "You need to keep up your strength otherwise you won't kill as many fangs with this bad boy." Yu took the gun and held it with reverence, letting out a soft noise of shock. Mika grinned and said, "If you think that's impressive, wait until you see this." Mika pulled a map out of his shirt with a flourish, "A map?!" I exclaimed. Yu was too stunned to say anything. "It shows us where all the exits are." Mika said. I shared a look with Yu, hope beginning to burn deep in my chest. Yu looked at Mika and asked, "Did you steal this from the noble?" Mika nodded and that put the pieces together for me. "Mika, that's where you went when Ferrid and the other vampire were feeding on me. You found the gun and the map!" Mika grinned and declared, "Sorry it took so long but the great Mikaela doesn't give his blood away for a pat on the back, he gets his dues." Yu nodded thoughtfully. "You two realize what this means, correct? We could leave, we could escape the vampires!" I was almost shouting with excitement. "That's right, and we're leaving tonight." Yu had stopped talking to eat for a moment and his curry fell off of his spoon with a plop, the room was dead silent.

"I know what you two skeptics are going to say, but don't worry, I've got it all planned out. Just leave it to the great Mikaela!" Mika's excitement was contagious though his plan was not without risks. Yu voiced his concerns much faster than I did. "But what about the virus, we could die as soon as we get outside!" I nodded, "I have to agree with Yu, Mika." Mika refused to let us doubt his plan though. "We won't die as long as we're thirteen or younger remember? Any idea how old we are now?" Yu paused trying to do the math in his head and I interjected, "If I'm correct we three are the eldest and we are twelve." Mika grinned," Then that gives us a whole year, we could find survivors or a cure. As long as the Hyakuya family works together everything will be okay." Yu opened his mouth to protest once more but I covered it with my hand. "Yu stop doubting, you take risks all the time, fighting the vampires, defending us all, this may be the last risk we have to take then, we will be safe." A creak sounded and we all turned to see Akane climbing down from the ladder. "What are you all doing?" She said sleepily while rubbing her eyes. "Why are you still awake? Oh, Mika, Ami, hi. Yu, you ate the curry, what did you think?" Yu didn't respond for a moment then his face lit up in a smile and he turned to Mika and I and said, "Ok let's do it!" I smiled and Mika stood straight up and began grabbing our dishes. "Let's go then, Ami, Akane, go wake everyone else up." Akane was puzzled and turned to me with a questioning expression. I could hardly contain my joy, we were going to see the sun again, "we're leaving Akane, Mika stole a map from a vampire, and it shows us the way to leave the city!" Her face lit up and we raced to the loft to wake the others. I shook Chihiro, Kyouta, and Fumie awake. "Guys wake up its time to go, we are leaving the city, going back to the surface!" With my words they all began to wake up and clamber down the ladder.

Once we were assembled downstairs, Mika poked his head out the door and announced, "Clear." to the rest of us. He went out first followed by Fumie. Yu and I brought up the rear, Yu holding my hand tightly to ensure I would stay close. We made our way through the city, on a careful look out for any vampires. As we made our way to one of the bridge like structures that ran above the city, the younger kids were amazed by the spectacular view. The kids voiced their worries to Mika as they entered the tunnels ahead of him. Mika merely smiled and told them not to worry, that we were leaving this world behind. The younger children were confused, and Mika directed their questions to Yu and I. With barely contained excitement Yu declared, "We're going back to the human world. And guess what we can have curry every day!" The children cheered and I grinned at my brother who smiled down at me. I had never seen Yu look so hopeful. As the children called out food suggestions, Taichi bumped into Mika and Mika covered his mouth and shushed us. As we fell quiet, we could hear the footsteps coming our way. I tensed and moved closer to Yu. I held my breath, waiting for us to be caught and our hope of freedom to be forever extinguished. I heard a pause in the footsteps, and I swear my heart stopped. But soon they resumed and moved on. Mika wasn't convinced though. Without a word he began shoving us in between the bars of a nearby sewage grate. We all waited with baited breath as we heard the footsteps return. They paused then moved away this time at a much slower pace. Mika let out a relieved sigh and we exited the grate and continued on. We came to a great staircase, Mika ascended and checked for guards, then we continued up and into the hall. I had doubted Mika's plan I thought we were going to be caught for sure, but as the doorway to the upper world loomed closer I began to smile. We were going to make it.

As we reached the middle of the hall a laugh ran out in the echoing hall, one that chilled me to the bone. "Oh ho, hello little lambs." _Ferrid,_ the thought darted through my head as the noble strode in front of the exit. "I was beginning to wonder if you would show up." I could hear my heart in my ears, what did he want, what would he do. There was no doubt in my mind that he knew we had stolen the gun and map. "Aw, look at those faces, I love the expression humans make when all their hopes have been dashed. It's so intoxicating, I can't stop playing this game." Mika was pale and I threaded my hand into Yu's and squeezed seeking both to comfort and be comforted by my brother. "What game?" Mika murmured and then went to look at the map when a gust of wind blew by us sending the map flying into the air. As we turned I gasped. The wind was Ferrid, he had Ako, and he was… drinking from her. I let out a muffled sob. We could all only watch in horror as he drank her blood and hear her whimpers until she fell silent and he dropped her body unceremoniously onto the ground. "What a pity, died so quickly." Yu let out an anguished roar and fired the pistol at Ferrid, who dodged it easily. "Well, well I believe that is my pistol. Sneaking it past me took a cunning few possess, well done Mika, I never expected to be this entertained. It makes me hungry for more. Does that fire need rekindling? What if I told you that map you stole was the genuine article? All you have to do is make it past me and you will be back in your world. It will be hard to chase you once you're outside, the question is whether or not you can make it there." Yu had let go of my hand to fire the pistol so Taichi was clinging to me instead, terrified. Yu turned to us and yelled, "Get going, Move it!" and he fired the gun into the air. We turned and ran. Ferrid turned towards us and began to chase us, causing me to will my body move faster, to be as quick as I could. "We'll hold him off!" I froze as I realized Yu and Mika hadn't ran with us. I froze and that saved my life. Ferrid ran past us at an astonishing speed, his arms deadly blades of death. Fumie, Taichi, Chihiro, and Kyouta were hit as he danced around. Only Akane and I were spared. I dimly heard Mika scream for Ferrid to please, leave us alone, but my muscles wouldn't move, I was terrified. Ferrid stood in front of Akane who shrank back in fear as Yu screamed for her to run. "Let me savor the misery as you lose everything you hold dear." He said as he killed Akane right in front us, with a slash of his hand across her throat. I can't remember the sound of my scream, I just know I did, as I watched Akane fall to the floor in front of me. I ran forward and gathered her in my arms as I sobbed, she had been like a big sister to me, as much a sibling as Yu or Mika. Ferrid laughed and said," Oh little Ami, your blood was so delicious I will miss it" and aimed for my throat. Whatever the reason, maybe he wanted to toy with me more or my position holding Akane, he misjudged his aim, and instead of slashing my throat, he cut my face.

The pain was searing and I couldn't even scream as I crumbled down next to Akane. I heard Yu scream, a sound I had never heard before. I wanted to call out but it hurt too much to move my mouth. I watched from the corner of my eye as Mika turned to Yu and said, "It's okay Yu. Just remember the two of us, we're family." Yu's eyes widened as he understood too late what Mika was going to do. Mika grabbed the gun from Yu and ran at Ferrid. "HEY!" Mika let out an enraged cry as Ferrid laughed. "Oh sweet Mikaela I will miss your company most of all. And the lovely meals" Ferrid moved to slash Mika but by some miracle Mika dodged, so instead he pierced Mika straight through. Mika retained his grip on the pistol, and moved to shoot for Ferrid's head. His arm was gone moments later taking the pistol with it. Mika muttered out, "Run Yu." I could no longer see my brother from where I was laying. Instead I heard the pistol shot and watched Ferrid fall to the ground. He had done it, Yu had finally killed a vampire. Yu cried out for Mika and I watched him drop to his knees. "Yu!" I whimpered though that single cry ended in a scream. It hurt to move my mouth, I could feel the blood seeping into my mouth and I couldn't see out of my right eye. Yu froze and turned to where I lay. "Ami?" He whispered. I nodded and began to crawl over to Yu and Mika, though I could only see out of my left eye. Knowing I was alive, Yu returned his attention to Mika. I heard Yu beg Mika to look at him. Mika was breathing heavily and whispered, "Go Yu, take Ami and go. Leave me here." I shook my head furiously though I had to bite my tongue to stop my screams. "Don't be stupid. We're going back together, the three of us, Remember!" Yu cried out. Mika breathed out, "Don't let us die in vain Yu." Yu shook his head and told Mika to shut up, that he was fine. I could feel the tears flowing out of my eyes and the burn it incited on my right cheek. Yu began to drag Mika towards the steps as I tried to stand but couldn't so I crawled though I couldn't keep up with Yu and Mika. Yu couldn't do it though. Mika was too heavy and losing too much blood. "Mika I can't leave! I can't I finally have a family, a good one that includes Ami and I. I won't lose you." Yu whispered. He fell once more and Mika lay gasping on the ground as I drew closer to them once more. "Just go you idiot, take Ami and go!" Mika screamed at Yu. Yu's tears fell from his face as he left Mika and helped me up and we ran.

As we ran through the tunnel, Yu let out a scream of rage while he struggled to help support me. He stumbled and I fell, taking us down. Yu picked me up and we continued to run. Yu's and I's tears continued to stream down our faces as Yu let out another cry of rage.

We emerged into a world covered in snow. I let out a cry of warning but it was too late, we tumbled down the snow covered slope and I scream from the impact it left on my face. As we hit the bottom, Yu turned to me and helped me to rise. We stood in front of a fence, our position overlooking a city that was old and dilapidated. As we gazed over the city, I thought of Ako and Taichi, of Fumie and Kyouta, of Chihiro and Akane. Of Mika. I began to sob. I turned to my brother and pressed the uninjured side of my face into his shoulder as I cried, cried for the family we had lost.

"Good they're here. It was foretold in the prophecy that we would come into contact with two of the test subjects from Hyakuya labs" An unfamiliar voice said. Yu whipped around and pressed me behind him, shielding me. Two women and a man approached. The man lowered his hood and smiled at us. "Hey kids. How would you like to help us get rid of the vampires once and for all?" Tears streamed down our cheeks, I don't know what Yu was thinking but we could survive in the human world, it was an adult, a human adult. We walked forward and hugged the man, our combined weight sending him down into the snow. He froze, unsure of what to do, then lowered his hands as Yu whispered, "I will do whatever it takes, as long as I get to kill every last one of them." I whispered, "I feel the same as my brother, I will do whatever you want just let me kill every one of those damn bloodsuckers."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **4 Years Later…**

4 years ago, my brother Yu and I escaped the vampire city of Sanguinem. Since then we have entered the Japanese Imperial Demon Army, who protects the final remnants of humanity. Now we are mere guards, protecting the wall.

What is the wall? A massive structure surrounding a collection of buildings. It protects the last remnants of humanity. I can remember Yu questioning Guren incredulously when he first rescued us, about how he was alive, and how was humanity alive. Guren rescued us, and trained us. Thus, we entered the Imperial Demon Army, someday hoping to join the Vampire extermination units and kill the bloodsuckers.

Revenge has burned within Yu and I for years. If sheer will was how you were promoted, Yu and I would've been made Generals long ago. However, we remained lowly privates, guards on a wall, defending it from the Four Horse men of John, apocalyptic monsters that had surfaced after the plague spread across the earth.

On patrol on the wall, we didn't see very much action due to our low rank, we were constantly ordered out of action. Most of the time, that didn't sit well with Yu, who enjoyed being in the thick of combat. On this particular occasion, that attitude was rearing its ugly head.

Yu and I strode towards the sounds of the disturbance. As we stood, watching and waiting, two of our comrades came bursting through an old bill board followed by a four horsemen of John. "What the hell are you two doing here? Exit the combat zone Privates!" I sighed, and stood up straight from the lamp post I was leaning against. The higher ups never did like us low ranks in combat, too much paper work to do if we died. I rolled my eyes in annoyance as Yu gave one of his lectures on who he was and what he was meant to do. I interrupted just before he ended to say, "Lieutenant, what he means to say is, we never back down from a fight. What kind of _buki no senmoka_ would I be if I ran now?" Yu glared at me in irritation then finished his speech. As he drew his katana, I drew my _nimaiba no ken,_ my double bladed sword. I flicked the blades out with the turn of my wrist and charged after Yu. The other soldiers took care to avoid me and I smiled. Most couldn't believe I was a _buki no senmoka,_ a weapons specialist. My one eye screamed at them and most believed my blind eye and scars, were inflicted by myself on accident. I let them think that, I almost wished it was true. It would be better than to know that a vampire had blinded and scarred me during my escape from their city.

As Yu leapt into battle, I saw him deflect one claw, but fail to notice the other one coming at him from behind. I jumped in front of him and deflected, then cut off the claw. The monster bellowed and Yu leapt up, dragging his sword into the monster's flesh then leap down as blood rained around us. I sighed then flicked my wrist once more, folding my blades up and turning my sword into a rod, much easier transportation, back sheathes are a pain. I walked over to Yu as he straightened up and sheathed his sword. "You're sloppy, that claw would've gotten you if I hadn't been there." I scolded him. "Well sis, its good you will always be there then." Yu brushed my criticism off, leaving me feeling like I wanted to strangle him and his cavalier attitude.

I would want to kill him later, when we were delivered official notices from the army, informing us of our suspension and how we were to endure it while being placed into high school with the rest of the teenage population of Shibuya.

As I took notes during the English lesson, I once again cursed Yu's attitude, and my own blind following of him. As Yu murmured something, the teacher turned and yelled at him about how he needed to shape up. I stood and said, "Apologies Teacher. Yu was merely asking me to clarify what you had just said that was all. Our apologies for interrupting your lesson." Yu glared at me, but the teacher looked mollified so I sat down and resumed my note taking. Not ten minutes later Yu gave another outburst and the teacher began threatening him with suspension. That punishment was most ineffective however. Yu gave a loud whoop and asked for suspension. The girl in the seat behind him tapped him and he turned to her.

Written on her notebook was a statement informing us that she was our Army surveillance officer. Once she had our attention she wrote in her notebook that we needed to behave or our sentence in this school would be lengthened. Yu began to huff and puff once more but I beaned him with a crumpled up piece of paper that had but one word on it, BEHAVE! Yu sank back into his seat and was silent. The girl, Shinoa, spoke quietly to the two of us, "I also need to inform you two that you will remain in suspension until you successfully make a friend." When her statement was met with our shocked gazes she nodded and said, "You heard right so Yu play nice and be a good student, Ami… control your brother." I withheld my laugh as Yu glared at Shinoa and laid his head against the window.

Soon class was over and we heard various students discussing after school plans. I stood, then began placing my papers into my bag. "Oh gee, wait up I want to come too! You two just missed a golden opportunity to make friends." Yu refused to look at her and said, "Trying to boss me around, not a good idea." Shinoa smiled, "There's that famous attitude I've hear about." I stepped forward and said, "Yep, once again rearing its ugly little head. I'm Ami Hyakuya, though I'm sure you knew that." Shinoa smiled and shook my hand. Shinoa returned her attention to Yu and said, "According to Lieutenant Colonel Guren, you avoid social interaction with anyone but Ami because you lost your family. You're too afraid to engage other people. You fear making connections or letting anyone get close to you because you're afraid you may lose them." I lost my smile after that declaration. Yu had had enough of Shinoa's "advice". Yu stood up and grabbed Shinoa's shoulder's forcing her to look him in the eyes. "I'm not afraid of anything, so quit running your mouth and get off my back." Shinoa replied, "I guess you can engage." I shoved my way between the two of them, forcing Yu to let go of Shinoa. "Shinoa we work well as a unit, Yu and I are friends can't you just-""Talk to Guren! Tell him to put us into the vampire extermination unit, we're ready. Let us make the fangs bleed for a change!" Shinoa smiled and held out two pieces of paper. "Guren said you two might say that so he gave me these." Shinoa handed Yu and I a note and I unfolded mine. It read,

 _Girls who only talk to their big brothers don't belong in the army. You can't specialize in only one friend. Go out and make a friend, then help Yu make a friend because I doubt he can do it on his own. Come introduce me to them once you do and you will be back in. I will see you soon, most likely without that brother of yours._

As I looked up from my letter Yu growled, crumpled his letter up and threw it on the ground. "I take it I'm still Guren's favorite twin then?" I teased Yu as he grabbed his bag. He stormed out the door and called back into the room, "All of you can go to hell." Then slammed the door. I turned to Shinoa who looked as though she dealt with adolescent males throwing temper tantrums every day. "He has no manners." I muttered. "And no patience." Shinoa added. "Are you coming?" Shinoa asked as she stood by the door, waiting for me. I grabbed my bag and we were off to find my brother.

We found him putting his books into a locker "Quit following me, don't you have something better to do?" He directed the statement at Shinoa who shook her head. "No can do. I'm your army surveillance officer remember? Any violation of Army guidelines will be reported." I sighed and leaned against a locker. Yu will never learn. A cry for help interrupted their bickering and we looked to see a smaller, brown-haired boy being gained up on by three gorillas. As the bullies responded to the plea, the boy was shoved to the ground. I turned, startled. Yu shrugged it off and Shinoa told him as he walked away, "Private I'm disappointed in you, you won't make any friends if you keep turning your back on people in need." The bullies had begun using the boy's head as a foot rest and I could stand it no more.

"Hey!" I called out. The boys didn't remove their feet but turned their attention towards me. "What are a bunch of gorillas doing here? Clearly you all belong in a zoo, now leave the kid alone and maybe I will give you some bananas." The boys removed their feet from the kid who stared at me in shock. "What did you say to us?!" One of them yelled. "Aw, I'm sorry. Are my words too big for you all to understand? Maybe it will be clear this time. Get. Away. From. Him." I said menacingly. "No one talks to us that way!" The lead monkey said and swung at me. I ducked and began to back up. "My, my, my. You really are slow, in more ways than one." I hadn't noticed the third one sneaking up behind me. I ducked as he grabbed for me, but he caught my eyepatch and off it came. "No!" I yelled and began to grab for it with one hand while trying desperately to keep my left eye covered with the other. The boys began to laugh and play with my eye patch, a large game of keep away. I was desperate, I had to have that eye patch. Without it, the kid I saved would run screaming and so would everyone else. Even Yu had never see me with it off. I began to cry desperate, frustrated tears. They couldn't see, they just couldn't see me without the eye patch.

"Hey." I heard Yu's voice and turned to watch him stride back into the hall. "Give it a rest you punks." His calm voice carried in the hall and I could hear through his monotone that there was rage simmering just beneath the surface. "Why? Who the hell are you?" The bullies walked away and they were no longer holding my eye patch. As Shinoa teased my brother and he confronted the bullies I desperately pat the floor with my hand searching for my eyepatch. "Here." A gentle hand laid on my shoulder and I felt the eyepatch hanging from his fingertips. I exhaled a shuddering breath in a frantic attempt to stop crying. I took it and tied it around my eye, ensuring that while I did the boy could not see my face. When I had finished, I turned and looked at the boy next to me. It was the one I had saved. I had assumed he would've run off.

"Are you alright? You were crying." The boy said. I looked away, ashamed and humiliated. "I'm fine. How's your face?" I asked, turning back to look at him. "I'm ok. No bruise." The boy smiled at me and I returned it hesitantly. I looked away when I heard the punch, it was Yu. The boys began whaling on him. I began to rise to go help my brother, who… wasn't fighting back? Shinoa walked over and asked, "Ami, are you alright?" I shook off her concern and said, "I'm fine, I will be even better once I go help my brother." Shinoa shook her head at my ending statement. "You can't, it's against the Army's guidelines to allow fighting with civilians." I winced as one of the boys landed another hit on Yu and sank back on the floor next to the boy to wait for the torment to end.

After the beating bestowed upon him, the boys sent Yu, the boy, who I learned his name was Yoichi, and myself to go buy and bring them all sorts of food. As we walked Yoichi was frantically apologizing to Yu and I. As Yu began to bicker with Shinoa once more I turned and smiled at Yoichi. "Its fine really, stop apologizing. The only thing hurt on him is his pride." I said, jerking my head towards Yu. Yu glared at me and I giggled then turned his attention to Yoichi. "Why do you let them bully you like that? Stand up for yourself."

Yoichi insisted they weren't bullying him and explained why he was hanging out with them in the first place. When it was mentioned that the head gorilla was being considered for Moon Demon Company, Yu exploded. I smacked him and gestured for Yoichi to continue. He said that his sister was killed by a vampire and he wanted to get revenge because he had been unable to protect her. Yu threw a can at Yoichi and said, "Moron. If you had helped her, you would be dead too. Then she would have died for nothing." As Yoichi opened his mouth to respond, Yu cut him off." No buts, let me give you some advice. Don't join the army, your sister is gone. She doesn't want revenge." Yu said softly as if to decrease the blow of his words. "Besides, you're too wimpy of a kid to join anyway. We need to kill the fangs, not feed them." As Yu stalked off, I placed a hand on Yoichi's shoulder. "That was harsh, I'm sorry, but he was right, your sister would want you to live, not go looking for more death." I squeezed his shoulder. He lowered his head and began to tear up.

As a can of coffee dropped Shinoa gasped and turned towards a large building behind us. Suddenly, a loud explosion came from the building and a gust of air flew through the plaza. The loud speakers began to blare, ordering us to evacuate. A vampire was loose in the city.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

The loudspeaker blared, "Emergency Alert, All students and faculty be advised, a vampire has escaped from a bio-research facility…" As the loudspeaker continued blaring and students screamed and ran, Shinoa asked the question we were all thinking. "Why would a vampire come here?" Yoichi eyes were filled with horror, "If a vampire's here we're as good as dead!" I glared at him. "Snap out of it Yoichi, you were the one just saying you wanted to join the vampire extermination units. If you truly want to do this then you can't be frightened by one measly vampire." Yu shouted at all of us, "Would you all be quiet!?" The loudspeaker continued to talk, announcing that vampires gained strength through drinking blood. "All of you evacuate, I'll call the moon demon company." Shinoa ordered. "Screw them! I'll kill the blood sucker with my own two hands! They will have to let me join, I will make Guren eat his words!" Yu yelled, then turned and ran for his locker where we kept our weapons. I turned towards Shinoa and Yoichi who stood there flabbergasted at Yu's audacity and recklessness. "He's my brother. I can't leave him to fight a vampire by himself. Besides," I smirked at them. "What kind of warrior would I be if I let Yu have all the fun?" with that I turned, and ran after Yu.

Shinoa and Yoichi called after us, shouting that it was suicide and that we were idiots. I merely smiled and ran after Yu. I caught up with Yu as we ran through crowds of students struggling to escape. I heard screams and cries and saw classmates merely sitting there. It made me want to scream, why weren't they trying to escape? As we managed to make it to the stairs, Yu and I sprinted to our lockers. As Yu pulled his open I caught of a glimpse of a pistol. The pistol. My face blanched at the sight of the damn thing "You kept it." It wasn't a question merely a statement. Yu turned and handed my _nimaiba no ken_ to me. "Are we going to argue or go kick some vampire ass?" I nodded but my face was grim as he tucked the pistol into his pocket. That pistol had been _his._ But there was no time for a debate. We ran towards the classroom we had heard a scream come from.

We walked in as the vampire was preparing to bite into a classmate's neck. As we entered the room the vampire watched us with blood red eyes. "I-it's you." I cast a glance at the cowering boy in the corner. It was the head monkey form earlier. Yu ignored him and turned to the vamp. "It's been a while. Since I've seen a vampire. I'm going to kill you." Yu drew his sword and tossed his scabbard behind him. He yelled, "For my family!" and charged for the vampire. _He can be such a fool!_ I thought as I flicked my sword open and leapt after him. The vampire sniffed and muttered, "Human trash." She didn't move as Yu ran forward but when he sliced at her legs she leapt up and rolled landing behind him. I swept my blade forward then turned it back at the last second hoping to catch her unawares but she was on the move so fast that I just barely cut her garment. She had pushed off a desk and sprang back at Yu. He dodged and slashed but to no avail. She backed him against the chalkboard and he dodged by a fraction of a second as she smashed the board to pieces as he spun around and balanced himself. I charged at her and spun my blade outwards, catching her arm. She moved however and I missed the opportunity to take her arm off. She threw her other arm out at me but I caught it on my hilt, though her force sent me flying backwards towards Yu. I regained my balance by stabbing one end of my sword into the ground and the drag created by it allowed me to slow myself down and stop next to Yu.

The vampire began to toss chairs and desks at us. Yu and I moved around dodging the various thrown objects. Yu ran forward and sliced but she leapt into the air, rebounded off the ceiling and came at Yu, however building off the cut I had already made, Yu sliced her arm straight off. She grabbed for it but I stabbed it with my sword and pulled it back towards me. She came rushing at me, desperate for the arm back but Yu blocked her. "I'm sorry, is this yours?" I smirked at her then proceeded to carve the arms into tiny bits. She glared at me and retreated the other side of the room. The girl began to stir and whimpered a few times. "Banana brain, take her and get going!" I yelled at the bully. "You're a soldier candidate right? Hop to it man!" Yu added. The bully shook his head and said, "But, I was lying, I just wanted everyone at school to fear me!" Yu gaped at him then returned his attention to the vampire as she snarled at us, "Pesky livestock, know your place. If you insist on interfering then I just won't take the time to play with my food!"

As she spoke she took the time to rip a bar off a desk then came flying at us. She began swing with the bar and with the stump of an arm she had left. Yu began to block as I swung at her and caught her hip. She retreated for a moment then my eyes widened as I watched the cut heal. She charged right back in, this time coming at me, forcing me onto the defensive, though Yu got a good slice in and she retreated with her hands covered in a protective cross over the gash. Yu pulled his pistol out and began to fire it, though she dodged every bullet. Yu had to stop firing once she landed in front of the girl, he didn't want to hit her with a stray bullet.

Then again she removed her hands and we watched her wound heal before our eyes. She smirked at us and stated, "You might think you're tough, but there's no way you'll ever defeat me. I'm going to be unstoppable once I've healed myself drinking her blood." She leaned over and I saw the glint of her fangs and I began to run, desperate to try to save the girl. Yu yelled then Yoichi burst in and tackled the vampire, moving her away from the girl. They fell to the floor and Yoichi turned his eyes to Yu and then to me. "Are you two okay?" I could only stand in wonder at his bravery, charging a vampire with no weapon. "Why you little!" The vampire screeched and threw Yoichi to the ground. She pulled back to kill him and Yoichi flinched, then opened his eyes when he heard the clang of her hand against my sword's hilt. Yu called out, "Yoichi good job, that was impressive." I nodded though I was straining to keep the vampire back. "Yoichi you did well." "Thank you, but, that's what friends are for isn't it?"

That fact the Yoichi had called us his friends shocked me and I lost my concentration. The vampire overpowered me and sent me slamming to the ground on top of Yoichi, though I cracked my head on the concrete flooring. "Ami!" I heard Yu's angry roar and felt arms pulling me out of the way and leaning me against what I wagered to be a wall. "Ami? Ami?! Are you alright?" I felt Yoichi patting my cheek and I blinked a few times to clear my vision and the image of Yoichi hovering over me came into view. "I'm fine, just dazed." I stood and caught the sight of the vampire grabbing Yu's throat and charging through the window and over the balcony with him. "Yu!" I screamed and grabbed my sword then charged right after them. I couldn't hear Yoichi yelling, I was too focused on getting to Yu.

I leapt right over the balcony and with my sword over my head to provide some barrier to help me slow down as I fell after them through the tree. I fell out of the bushes and saw Yu's throat in the vampire's hand and his sword through her gut. She was laughing and gloating about how she couldn't die. I snarled and charged at her. She leapt up then came down at me, knocking my sword down out of my hand and catching my throat in her hand. "I've had enough of you, time to have a little snack." She leaned down as I struggled to get free when a voice cut through my struggles saying, "I'm sorry you were saying?" as a sword protruded from the vampires chest. "But how, how do you have a cursed weapon?" She sputtered out. Guren tsked, "Oh how the mighty have fallen. You're pathetic." With that he withdrew his sword and she turned to ash. "About time Guren." I snapped, standing up and flicking my sword back into a rod. Guren merely raised an eyebrow at me then turned to Yu, "And speaking of pathetic, What were you two thinking trying to kill it with a normal blade and no enchantment, or were you hoping I'd come to save your sorry asses?" I didn't try to restrain my smile as Yu began to argue with Guren. They always behaved like this. I could joke about being Guren's favorite all day long because he liked me and used me to piss Yu off but I knew Guren liked Yu just fine. I tuned back in to hear Guren's last phrase, "You two saved all your friends at school." I took note of the people standing behind Guren and saw that they must be the moon demon company. Yu noticed too and blushed for a minute before his bluster kicked in and he insisted that he didn't have any friends and that he could kill vampires with the best of them yada, yada, yada.

I marched over and clapped my hand over his mouth to spare us anymore embarrassment and Guren smiled. "Ami, I was wondering when you would muzzle your brother." I gave Guren a smile and responded, "Someone has to. Ignoring his bluster, Yu has a point, we did keep our classmates alive. Put us in the squad, we can fight vampires with the best of them." Guren shook his head, "I make it a point not to work with lone wolves." Before he could continue Shinoa interrupted with a laugh, "That's funny, coming from the biggest lone wolf in the Imperial demon army." Guren turned to her with a look on his face, "Did you say something?" Shinoa flicked her hair over her shoulder and responded with an innocent, "No sir." I laughed and pointed at Shinoa, "Ooh, I like her." Guren glared at me and asked once more, "Did you say something?" I saluted with a smile and winked at Shinoa, "No sir." Guren sighed and clapped his hand over his eyes. "What am I going to do with you?" I opened my mouth to get another smart aleck comment in, but Guren held up a hand and said, "Rhetorical question. No more comments from you." I grinned and Shinoa smiled at me.

"Anyway, the rules Shinoa gave you are the same. If you can't make a friend I won't let you join." Yu began to yell once more, exclaiming," What is it with you trying to make me have friends? It's not like you need them to kill vampires!" He paused for a minute then we heard a yell. It was Yoichi. He came sprinting down the stairs and tackled Yu in a hug. Yu knocked his head on the ground when he went down and fell into unconsciousness. "What?! Yu! Someone call an ambulance." I walked over and crouched next to Yu and Yoichi and slapped Yu once. He groaned and rolled away from me. "He's fine, he's hardheaded." I smiled at Yoichi, who smiled back at me. "I'm glad you're okay too Ami." He said then threw his arms around me. I froze, stiff as a board. No one ever touched me. I wouldn't let them, I didn't like being touched, but for some reason, I didn't mind so much with Yoichi. I awkwardly patted his back and he released me. I smiled then looked over to Guren and Shinoa and smirked. "Well Guren, We've made a friend ready to let us in?" Guren sighed and nodded. I grinned and smiled down at Yu. We had made it.

Hours later, Shinoa, Yoichi, and I sat in Yu's hospital room, waiting for him to wake up. Suddenly Yu extended his arm towards the ceiling then opened his eyes. Yoichi exclaimed, "Look Shinoa, Ami, he's awake." Shinoa started then turned to face Yu with a small smile, "Well it's about time." I nodded in agreement, "Really Yu, you can fight a vampire but a little smack on the head knocks you out? That's just sad." Shinoa giggled and stood to close the window. Yu frowned at me and I smiled. That frown would change in a minute. "I have good news, you and Ami are officially assigned to the vampire extermination unit." Shinoa said. "Congrats Yu! That's awesome!" Yoichi exclaimed with an excited look. He never stopped smiling did he? "I almost forgot! Your enlistment was accepted also, welcome to the Army Yoichi! You three made quite an impression on your comrades, you put your lives on the line and fought bravely, for people you didn't even know. Gentleman and lady, welcome to Moon Demon Company" Shinoa turned and smiled at us and I clapped Yoichi on the shoulder, "Congratulations Yoichi! You made it." He smiled at me and I felt a flutter in my heart. I shoved it down and smiled back. Shinoa stepped forward holding her hand out, "From now on, you're one of us." Yoichi placed his hand in hers and I laid mine on top of his after a moment's hesitation. "Come on buddy, bring it in!" Yoichi told Yu, who rolled his eyes. "This is so stupid, but fine." Yu grumbled and laid his hand on top.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It had been three days since Yu, Yoichi and I had been asked to join the Moon Demon company. I was back to being an observer, watching, and laughing, at the stream of confessions of love my brother had received since we had killed the vampire that had attacked the school.

I was watching yet another hopeless girl give my brother a love letter and then run-off, my brother had yet to figure it out what the girls were trying to tell him. He just tossed the letters into a pile in his room. I pitied the poor girls.

As the girl runs off I hear Shinoa call out, "My, my. I guess it's only natural for the school hero to become popular with the girls. Don't let it go to your head." I lost it, I started laughing. " Oh Shinoa it won't be going to Yu's head anytime soon. He didn't even figure it out, until she, handed him the letter!" I wheezed out. Just the look on my brother's face, and the idea that he could let popularity go to his head was ludicrous. Shinoa smirked, " We really will have a trail of broken hearts to mend." Yu face flushed, " Quit talking like you know me and I'm not a heartbreaker… Ami shut up." I continued to giggle, ignoring my brother's demands entirely. Shinoa smiled, "Ah, so I see, you're a virgin." Yu's face was bright red and he looked mortified, "Hey keep it down." I lost it once more. I was actually rolling on the ground at this point. "Shut it Ami, you're one too in case you had forgotten." I bemusedly looked up at my brother. "Yes Yu I am, but I am also an one-eyed freak that carries around a double bladed sword. Boys don't line up for sex with you then." Yu paled and looked like he was going to barf. "Please don't ever mention you having sex. Ever." I began to laugh again.

Shinoa smirked at, "In these times, virginity might as well be considered a mortal sin. That's why the demon army encourages everyone to form new relationships. It's important that people _hook up_. The world has already come to an end once. Anyone that wasn't killed by the virus ended up in the belly of wandering monsters. We're lucky that even a tenth of us survived. Past those walls are endless ruins and wastelands, crawling with all manner of beasts." Shinoa said somberly, gazing out past the walls. "This world of ours, it's no longer safe for humanity." Yu walked closer to Shinoa, who continued," That's where the Imperial Demon Army comes in. We'll gather the remnants of mankind, and breed our way to the top of the food chain once again." Damn, Shinoa was being scary, something I would not expect from the petite girl. "Yay! Come one, come all, come together, illicit sexual relations." And there was the Shinoa I knew. I stood from my position and laughed.

"By the way, can I ask you something?" Yu said to Shinoa who turned and made a noise of assent. "Is there a reason we're still stuck in this dump?" I agreed, "I must admit, Shinoa, I have been wondering the same thing. We've been promoted, so why are we still here?" I fixed my gaze on her, observing her reaction. "That's a question for the Lieutenant Colonel, not me." Yu clenched his fist. "Then how do I ask him? The lazy jerk doesn't even go to his office. What are we supposed to do, stalk the guy?" I gave Yu a mock glare, "That task would be all yours big brother." Yu glared at me. "I don't know why you're yelling at me, I'm not his keeper. Besides you don't have to wait to start your training. As a matter of fact, it's already begun." "What do you mean Shinoa, all we've done is come to school, and watch Yu pick fights. How is that training?" I question. Shinoa gives me that mysterious smile of hers, "Our special methods make the most difficult of wishes obtainable. Soon you will fulfill your desires." Yu's eyes narrow, "And what do you know about my desires?" I stand up a little straighter, tension is building and when it blows I want to be ready.

"I know you want power. Like this." Shinoa twirls a metal hairpin between her fingers, and I watch smoke curl off of it. As It burns with fire it begins to elongate within SHinoa's fingers, "Woah, what the hell?!" Yu cries out as it gives a roar. "What is this Shinoa?" I question backing up a few steps. "This is the demon I formed a contract with, Shikama-Doji." The beast gives out a growl at the mention of its name. It finishes the transformation into a scythe with a long, green edge. Shinoa spins around and approaches us. "Try not to embarrass yourselves in front of her."

Yu mumbles out, "Cursed gear? A weapon that can kill vampires. Why do you have one?" I smack myself in a face-palm. "Yu, she is a member of the Moon-Demon Company too, you idiot." Yu continues, ignoring my comment," It's incredible, If it was mine I could kill any fang I wanted." Shinoa frowns and lowers her scythe. "Not on your own you couldn't. If you want to learn to beat vampires, you've got to learn to work in a tea-" "Shinoa, I'm taking your cursed hand it over, I need it to get revenge for my family." He cuts her off and draws his sword. "Yu, out of all your ideas, this one has got to be the lamest. It hers, wait for your own, you brain-dead fool." I call out to Yu as he falls into a fighting stance. "It's fine Ami, let's see how well Yu stand ups to cursed gear with no real weapon to fight it. Besides, he can't use it, that's why there is a contract." Yu grins and dashes forward, "Fine, let's see how you handle it then, bring it on Shinoa!"

Yu attempts to charge her head on . As he strikes the blade he receives pushback. He blocks as Shinoa moves onto the offensive, twirling her scythe like a baton, and leaving deep black gouges on the roof's flooring. As they battle, I call out, "Shinoa, try to leave a corpse, I need something to explain to Guren how much of an idiot he is." Shinoa laughs, and replies, "Don't worry Ami, I won't kill him, much." As she returns her attention to the fight she calls out to Yu, " Not too shabby, but fighting cursed gear with conventional weaponry won't get you far." As Yu rolls under and away she turns and calls out, "Go, Shi!" sending a wave of blackness and flames straight towards Yu, with the demons face visible and roaring. Yu raises his blade to block as he retreats, but the demon catches him and slams him into the chainlink fence. It pushes him in enough that there's a dent where he is, but Yu appears otherwise unharmed. "Woah, okay, that was pretty badass." Yu chuckles but slides down to the ground. I walk up and kick him in the side. "Ouch!" Yu yelps. "Idiot." I bend over and help Yu to his feet. "Let's go." Once he's standing I begin to walk with Shinoa following me.

Yu catches up as we walk back to the barracks. "I don't get it though." Yu says to Shinoa, "You have a kickass weapon, how could a vampire stand a chance against you?" Shinoa explains," It's war. When we fight on the battlefield, we will be up against their soldiers, there, won't be any unarmed vampires in hospital gowns." I laugh at Yu's expression, "She got you Yu." Shinoa, learning to ignore my jabs at my older brother, continues, "They'll have weapons too." "For real? Ugh that sucks." Yu groans. "That's the the way of the world Yu. Everything sucks now." I add. "It does suck," Shinoa agrees," Why do you think Lieutenant Colonel Guren has been beating teamwork into your thick skull? We cannot win this without each other." The joking mood has turned somber.

"Yu! Help me out here!" we hear a voice call out from behind us, Yoichi. I turn along with my brother to see him running towards us. He attempts to slow down, fails and crashes into me, pulling me down before I have a chance to dodge him. I land on the floor with Yoichi next to me. "I'm sorry, are you alright Ami? You're not hurt are you?" I shake my head and Yoichi stands then offers me his hand. I take it and he pulls me to my feet. I look down at him, he is relatively tiny compared to Yu or I. "No harm, no foul." I smile at him. He nods then his eyes widen and he cowers behind Shinoa. " Come on, quit running!" a voice calls out. "You've got to be kidding me. Don't tell me they're picking on you again." Yu groans. I turn and see the bullies that were messing with Yoichi when we first met him. I instinctively moved my hand up to my eyepatch and lay it there. They run up to us huffing and puffing. "We don't want trouble. Please just hear us out." one says. "Sorry about before. We were grade- A jerks. Total apes." the other chimes in. I nod and then take a step back, wanting them out of reach of being able to grab my eyepatch. "Will you forgive us and make us your disciples?" The first one chimes in. "Disciples?" Yu repeats incredulously. "No wait a second, I can't have any disciples no way!" Yoichi stutters out. "Don't worry about it Yoichi, I honestly doubt that they're asking out of admiration. What do you really want?" I ask them with suspicion. "Hmph, direct as always Ami, you're starting to act like your brother with that attitude." Shinoa sighs. "Am not." I stick my tongue out at Shinoa who merely gives me a superior look. Whatever, some people just can't take a joke. Unlike Shinoa and I, who have gotten majorly off track, Yu asks the boys, "So what's with the one-eighty? Just yesterday you were using Yoichi as a footstool. What gives you the right to ask him for favors?" I facepalm, as they reply, "I can't argue with you there, but we could really use his help!" Sure, I ask a question and am ignored, Yu asks a question and they hurry to answer him, I asked a question and am soundly ignored. Yu laughs, a bitter sound, "Delinquents these days seem a little short in the pride department." "As only you would know Yu." I chirp in helpfully. "Shut up Ami. Quit acting like punks and people might actually want to help, ever think of that?" Yu states. "Hello Pot, meet my dear friend Kettle." Shinoa adds quietly. I stifle a laugh that turns into a snort as I attempt to look mature. Yu gives Shinoa a look then turns his attention back to the boys as the leader says, "We know we've got no right to ask for help, especially after we were such jerks to you guys but still," the leader pauses and Yu prompts him to continue. _These fools have actually piqued his curiosity,_ I think to myself. "It's Yugi, the guy who was with us, he went inside the forbidden chamber and he never came back out." the leader finishes his statement. "The forbidden chamber?" Yu wonders aloud. "Can't say I've heard of it. Shinoa any ideas?" I look at her, expecting her to explain. "I should've guessed. The words Class-I restricted might as be a welcome mat to you morons." She says bitterly. The boy try to stammer out an excuse but she cuts them off, stating, "There's no excuse, to be honest I don't care why you did it. I care about the punishment, and as far as the army is concerned, your friends punishment has already been decided." Shinoa begins to walk away from us all, and the boys cry out asking her what sort of punishment he is getting. " I'm sure he's already in custody, and he will be in there until the army decides to execute him." She finishes. The lead boy looks as though he has been sucker punched. I can tell, he may be an asshole, but he truly cares about his friend. "I suggest you forget about him." Shinoa declares coldly. I try to find the words to defend this kid, he doesn't deserve to die just for breaking one rule, but they fail me in light of Shinoa's cruelty. "Follow me." Shinoa commands and we all begin to descend into the depths of the school.

"So what's with the Forbidden chamber Shinoa, is a lab or something?" Yu asks, the first of us to speak to her after her cold words. She laughs, seemingly back to her normal self, " no, nothing like that. Just one of the schools seven wonders. Like the piano that plays concerts all by itself, or moving anatomical dolls. Though I can't remember if the chamber is third or fourth on the list." Shinoa says. It astounds me how she can seem so playful one minute and so heartless the next. "You're not as clever as you might think. If the area's restricted then the military's got control." Yu remarks. "So Yugi somehow opened the chamber, and now he's trapped inside of it?" Yoichi concludes. "That would make the most logical sense." I agree. "More than likely, but that's not the issue. The room is actually a training facility for the extermination unit. If a non-trained civilian like Yugi gets in, there is a good chance they'll be possessed by the demon."

I start at her words, "Wait, demon?"Yu asks. "Remember what I told you two? You don't need to worry about training because it's already started. It's time for us to move onto the next step." Shinoa smiles at Yu and I, and I suddenly get a slight chill up my spine. "Now if you'll follow me." She turns and walks away with no explanation. "What? Shinoa, don't walk away, what the hell do you mean?" I demand. I've lost my patience with her word games. She ignores me however.

We make our way to the basement, where Yu pipes up to ask, "Why put a shrine in a school? And underground of all places?" "Well, it isn't really a shrine, we just like to call it that." Shinoa states but gives us no more information. I grit my teeth, trying to not yell at her, I doubt that will get me anywhere. She opens the door and a gust of wind blows over us, an ominous sound accompanying it. We begin to walk down the stairs and Shinoa decides to clue us in now. "Back before the virus broke out, a massive underground space was installed under the Shibuya part of Tokyo, it's original purpose was to…" I tune Shinoa out and drop back to walk next to Yoichi. "Are you alright?" I whisper to him, so Shinoa doesn't hear me. "Yeah, I'm fine, it's just dark down here and a little creepy." Yoichi makes an attempt and a smile but I can see he's unnerved. "It's okay, we're all together, nothing can beat Yu and if by some miracle it gets past him, it won't get past me." I state firmly. Yoichi nods and I can see his shoulders relax slightly. I tune back into Shinoa as she drops the bomb on us that the school is nothing but an experiment for the army to see who is unaffected by the demon's energy. I gape at her and Yoichi gulps. We finally reach the bottom where a door covered in seals stands before us.

"There are two people who can go through these doors. Those summoned by the extermination unit, and those chosen by the demon." Shinoa tells us, and Yoichi asks quietly, "So Yugi is in there." "He's not in the extermination unit, I don't think, so he must've been summoned by the demon." I add in my opinion. "If he's in there the demon may have eaten his heart already." Shinoa states. "What if the demon decides to eat our hearts?" Yoichi whimpers. Shinoa turns to him with a baleful eye, "Then we'll turn into ravenous man-eating monsters far worse than any vampire. That's why you have to be thoroughly trained first. Especially your strength of heart. You need to understand the cost of wielding this cursed gear. That's why I brought you-" "The point is to beat the demon,right? I need power, our family has waited for revenge long enough, if this demon can give me what I need, I don't care what I have to do to get it." Yu declares and walks over to the door and shoves it open. "Yu, this takes the cake for worst idea, what the hell are you thinking?!" I shout and move in front of my brother. "Are you crazy?!" Shinoa demands of Yu from behind him. "Get out of my way Ami." Yu demands of me. I shake my head. "I won't, you've lost it if you think this is what they would want, what Mi-ah!" I yelp as Yu lifts me up and dumps me behind him. "Don't say his name." Yu's voice is low and almost frightening as he ignores my protests and runs down the stairs. "I'm going to claim it!" Yu yells back at us. "Wait!" Shinoa calls out as Yu runs down the stairs. "Yoichi, we're going to need back up, go get the moon demon company, their barracks are at the back of the school, hurry!" Shinoa commands and Yoichi nods then runs for the barracks.

Yu charges into the circle and begins to battle Yugi, Shinoa and I run down to the circle. "Stay outside of the circle Ami." Shinoa instructs me. She pulls out Shikama-Doji, " You must be deathly allergic to teamwork, brute force won't beat a demon, if yu grab that gear barehanded, the demon will possess you as well, you'll end up just like Yugi." Shinoa states with a deadly serious face. "I would never lose to some monster." Yu states. "You will this time. You don't have the strength to defeat a demon yet." Shinoa responds. "Wha-?" Yu starts, and Shinoa continues, "You're heart is too weak to defeat a demon. Demons thrive on dark desires, your hunger for revenge will make you that much easier to control. Do you get it now? Guren knows you have excellent combat skills, but he won't risk giving you a cursed gear until you've conquered those feelings."

Yu sheathes his swords and I heave a sigh of relief, until I hear his next words, "Is that a challenge? Cause I'm sure i can make that demon cry out for his mother. And now I'm going to prove it to you." Yu tosses his blade to me and I barely catch it before he goes running towards Yugi, "What're you doing?!" Shinoa calls out. "NO, Yu, DON'T!" I scream the last word at him before he disarms Yugi and takes the weapon into his hands.

"Tsch, that idiot, he lost now." Shinoa puts away Shi with her statement. I sink to my knees and shake my head. "No." "What?" Shinoa turns toward me and I repeat myself, "No, Yu is stronger than he looks and I have more faith in him than anyone. He won't lose to the demon. He can't." I risk moving into the circle and sit next to Yu's prone figure. "We'll just have to wait."

Yoichi comes running in about 5 minutes later, huffing about how the barracks were empty. "Yu is facing the demon, now we have to wait for him to beat it." I say calmly. "You really think he can beat it?" Yoichi asks me. "Yes, I do." I respond. Shinoa joins us and we sit in silence, waiting for Yu to wake up.

About 10 minutes later, Yu begins to stir. He moans then says, "Why am I lying on the floor?" as he moves into a sitting position. "I can't believe it. You managed to come back all on your own." Shinoa states in awe. "Come back from where exactly?" Yu asks us. We all share a look of amazement. "The demon, it had you trapped inside an intense hallucination. But even, without a contract spell, you broke free with the power of your mind. That's quite an accomplishment." Shinoa gave Yu a small smile. "Of course he did. His skulls too thick and too stubborn for any demon to want him." I grinned and threw my arms around Yu's abdomen, giving him a hug. He smirked and patted my head, then I retreated with a huff. "Yeah, I have no idea what you're saying. So, does this axe belong to me now?" Yu asked Shinoa, though I could tell that he was exhausted. "No, it's a little more involved than that. There are procedures to follow when you form a new contract. Guren will decide which gear suits you best. You're just going to have to be patient." Shinoa explained. Yu smirks at her, "I still kicked some demon ass though, right?" Shinoa is shocked and stammers out, "I guess so." "And this is the second time I've beaten the moon demon company to the rescue." Shinoa looks down and begins to pout, "Well, yeah. I guess you have a point." Shinoa stands and says, "On top of that you saved another classmate. Without your sister too. You won't have to wait much longer. Starting tomorrow you'll begin your training with the rest of the vampire extermination unit." Yu cheers and I grin at Yoichi who gives me a sweet smile in return. Yu looks at his palm as though searching for something. I frown and stand then offer a hand to my brother. He grins and takes my hand.

We begin our walk back to the normal school levels. I let Shinoa and Yoichi move forward and then I punch Yu in the arm. "Ow, what was that for?!" He exclaims, rubbing where I hit him. I turn and face him with my hands on my hips. "Don't you ever do something so stupid again." I warn him. He blinks, surprised, then relaxes. He laughs and tousles my hair. "Don't worry so much Ami. I won't let some puny demon take me down." He walks off leaving me standing there, gobsmacked. "Hey, hey wait up!" I yell, realizing they all left me and run to catch up.

 _I'll just have to put my faith in Yu. And in myself._ I think as I hurry to catch up with my friends.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Yu and I were on our way to meet Yoichi. He let out a yawn and I gave him a smile, "Up late again? Whatever are you doing dear brother, to be so tired?" I teased and he groaned and gave me a little shove. "Cut it out Ami, you're hanging out with Shinoa far too much if you've begun to talk like that." He groused and made a face at me. I gave him a mock look of horror, "Oh no, I'm hanging out with Shinoa, whatever has the world come to? The answer is hell."

As he shoved me once more and we began to bicker a pink- haired boy shoved through us. He sent Yu spinning to the side and I almost fell over. "Hey watch where you going, you damn punks." The pink-haired boy growled at us. "You trying to start a fight or something?" The boy continued walking up to Yu and grabbing him by the collar, thrusting him against the railing of the walkway. Yu was bewildered by his actions and frankly, so was I, but I couldn't let anyone pick on Yu. I shoved in between them saying with deadly certainty, "Back off asshole, he didn't do anything to you, it was an acc- oh!" The pink haired kid shoved me to the side and I went down, cracking my head against the railing. "What the hell do you think you're doing? All right you bastard, you asked for it!" Yu yelled then charged at the boy.

He swung and the boy dodged, only to trip over my legs as I knocked him over. He landed flat on his ass. I stood up as he did and he glared at me. "Sorry Princess, didn't mean to hurt your itty-bitty self." He bit out. He _did_ not. I swung at him and was satisfied to hear the crunch of his nose beneath my fist. I was less than satisfied to hear my fingers crack though. "Ouch, dammit!" I yelled pulling back my hand. He was leaning against the rail, blood dripping from his crooked nose. "Lesson number one idiot, don't mess with my brother." I snarled before Yu whisked me away to the infirmary, where I got a lecture and a splint for my broken hand.

We met Yoichi outside where he seemed horrified to find me with my hand in a splint. "Woah Ami, what happened to your hand?" Yoichi asked worriedly before grabbing my hand gently. He lifted it up and gave it a cursory glance. "Did you see the nurse?" He demanded to know, if his gentle questioning could be called a demand. Yu groaned and I gave him a small smile. "Yes we did. I'm fine. I just… ran into a wall." I said quickly, telling a little white lie. Yu would never give me up and I wasn't supposed to be fighting with non-military personal. "A wall?" Yoichi reaffirmed. "A wall, with a nasty look and a really bad attitude." Yu grumped from in front of us as we walked to the barracks. Yoichi gave a small laugh then turned to me with kind eyes and asked, "Are you sure your hand is okay?" I gave a small blush and nodded. What the hell was wrong with me? Maybe that fall I took rattled my brains more than I thought.

As we entered the barracks and facilities for the moon demon company Shinoa stepped forward from the shadows. "The three of you are late." She spoke with an icy tone. "Whatever, we're here now." Yu gave his customary didn't care answer. I groaned at Yu's idiotic response. Shinoa's eyes fall upon my hand and she gapes at me. "It looks like someone broke your wrist Ami. Is another suspension in order for the two of you?" She mockingly asks Yu and I. I hold up and finger and states, "One, I resent the accusation that I need Yu in order to get into trouble. Two, I ran into a wall." I glare at Shinoa who smirks and replies, "All right, if you say so. Besides, we've got much bigger things on our plate today."

"Yeah, I'm so psyched, after all that waiting we get to start training to become members of the moon demon company." Yoichi beams at Shinoa. "You already know I don't need training so save us all some time, and put Ami and I in action." Yu glares at Shinoa. I would've face palmed if my dominant arm wasn't injured. "I'd be fine with that. But if you're not willing to put in the time to go through training, you're going to fight without gear or a uniform." Shinoa smirks as begins to walk into the building with us following her. "I'm not killing vampires butt-naked." Yu mumbles as I giggle and Yoichi smiles at their banter.

We turn down a long corridor, where Shinoa goes to one of the doors and cracks it open, revealing a classroom. "Excuse me everyone." Shinoa calls in, showing us a room full of students and Guren. Sleeping. In the teacher's chair. Doing no work of any kind. "I brought these two slowpokes with me Lieutenant Colonel. Uhm, sir?" Shinoa questions as Guren groans and rises, "Fine. Time to get started. The reason I'm making a rare appearance in class today is because we've got a couple of transfers student I want to introduce you to." "You know, just for your information, the supervising teacher should probably be coming to class every day." Shinoa drolly states. I snort at the idea of Guren working regularly.

"Why don't you two mind your own business?!" Guren demands then continues, "So, anyway, as I was saying these are the transfers. Yuichiro Hyakuya, Ami Hyakuya, and Yoichi Saotome. Might be easier to remember them as the idiot, the wuss and Ami." Yoichi looks startled by Guren's opening remarks about him and Yu cries out, "Are you calling me an idiot?" Guren merely looks at him replying, "Well it's the truth. Now go ahead and introduce yourselves." "Why bother?! I don't care about any of the other people in this class. I'm not here to be life or make friends. You weaklings can piss off and become vampire for all I care." Yoichi extends his hand as though to contain Yu and frowns, saying, "Woah, what's gotten into you?" Yu continues, stating," Let's make one thing clear. I don't know which one of you losers was the best in class until now but you can kiss that goodbye. The strongest cursed gear is mine. I shouldn't even be wasting my time here. I deserve to be in the company." "No, you deserve this!" Guren yells before punching Yu onto the ground. Yoichi looks torn as to what to do while I merely commenting, "You got to him before I did."

Yu stands up groaning and rubbing his head. "I don't know what you learned in that general ed. Class but here we work together as a team. Ugh, thought you might've learned your place by now. Go on take a seat in the back row, all three of you." Guren commands. We walk back to our desks and I slug Yu in the arm and give him a glare.

A boy is with a book over his face has his feet on Yu's desk. Yu prods him and begins to complain about how he needed to get up. "Can't you see that I'm trying to sleep? Back off, huh?" The boy breaks off mid-retort as he lifts the book and we see a boy with pink hair. The boy who attacked Yu and I earlier. They both seem shocked to see one another, however Yu recovers more quickly. "So, we meet again wall? What are you doing here?!" Yu demands of the boy. I widen my stance, prepared for him to start swinging again. He's nastier than Yu on a bad day, if earlier was anything to go by.

"I could ask you the same question you twerp, and what do you mean Wall?" The other boy yells. The boys argue as Shinoa and Guren discuss the situation without making a move to stop either one. I groan as they begin to fist fight. I take a seat, I'm not saving Yu's ass this time, and I can't fight all his battles, especially not with my hand out of commission. They begin to move the fight to the front of the class. Finally Guren intervenes, delivering a kick that sends them slamming into the door, while Yoichi looks on in horror and I restrain the criticism dying to come out of my mouth. Guren leaves them in a heap and Yoichi takes his seat, leaving the two morons lying on the ground. Like a good student, I ignore my brother and open my textbook, wanting to actually achieve a passing grade in this class.

Later, after class is over, I ask Yoichi to borrow the water he has left over from his lunch. The two idiots still haven't awoken so after obtaining his consent, I pour the entire thing over the two of them. Yu sits up with a groan while the other boy, Kimizuki I believe his name is, groans but remains lying on the floor. "I hope Guren taught you two a lesson. Try to fight when your superior officer isn't watching. "I scold them then yank Yu to a standing position. "Come on Yu, we have a practical exam next and if we hurry, there might be time for you to take your turn in the infirmary and get patched. Pinkie, drop dead." I added as an afterthought. I really didn't care what he did.

"Awe Princess, is your pride wounded that your brother actually got a chance to beat me up?" Kimizuki scoffs. I turn around and with no small amount of satisfaction, kick him where it counts. Yoichi cringes and even Yu gives a wince. As Kimizuki groans and curls into a fetal position I hiss at, "Your nose is bit crooked idiot, want me to use my other fist to correct it? Call me Princess again and your bloodline will end with you, are we clear?" I grab Yu's sleeve in my good hand and Yoichi follows me with no problem as we go to patch up my brother.

 **Later…**

We were assembled in a large room resembling a gym while a pretty lady with brown haired stood in front of us. "Hi everyone! Listen up students in preparation for next weeks Cursed Gear aptitude test, I will be assessing all of your abilities. If you can't show me you're ready here then you'll have to keep training and take the test at a later date. So do your best okay?" The woman, she was called Sayuri. Apparently she was one of Guren's subordinates in his personal squad.

Yoichi's head dropped at the news, "That's… a lot of pressure." He mumbled. "Whatever happens, I'm going to kick ass and prove that I'm the strongest one here." Yu whispered back. I rolled my eyes and touched Yoichi's arm gently, drawing his attention to me. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't fail." I whispered to him confidently. I wouldn't let him fail, he was my friend and that's what friends are for, to help each other. Shinoa laughed and stated, "Here we go again." Kimizuki was all bandaged up on the other side of the student group. I noted with delight his nose was still crooked. That showed him, calling me Princess, pushing Yu around, no one is allowed to mess with Yu except me and maybe Shinoa.

"Today, I'll be evaluating you based on how well you work together with others. Go ahead, everyone chose a partner to work with." Sayuri called out to us all. "Huh? What, a partner?!" Yu looked dumbfounded as I giggled and slid back to stand with Yoichi. "Do you want to be my partner?" I asked him. He smiled and nodded though he looked concerned over Yu. "H-Hey uh Yoichi, Ami?" He called over to us though his face fell when he saw us partnered together. "Sorry Yu, better luck next time!" I replied. "What are you guys doing together, what about me? Hey!" Yu's face fell as Shinoa walked over to us and steered us away from Yu. I smirked as I saw her toss a devilish smile over her shoulder as she escorted us away.

When we had moved far enough away from Yu for her satisfaction she smiled and stopped shoving us. "I take my leave of you two now. I've already passed my training. Good luck!" She grinned and took off. "Well, she was absolutely no help." I muttered in disgust. "Uh, Ami, you don't have to partner with me, if you don't want to." Yoichi whispered. I turned to him with a frown and said, "Yoichi, why wouldn't I? You're my friend aren't you?" He winced and stammered, "Y-yeah, but I'm not as strong as you or Yu, you know?" He was bright red as he said it and it made me upset, that he felt like he wasn't as good as Yu or I, "Yoichi, you have skills same as the rest of us. Who else do I know that would've been brave enough to tackle a vampire without a weapon?" I reasoned. He gave a small smile then as Sayuri walked towards us with a pair of handcuffs she explained that they needed to be put on for the activity. I nodded and clamped it to my right hand, my uninjured hand, while Yoichi clamped it to his left.

"Your attention please!" Sayuri called from the top of a balcony. "Now that everyone has chosen a partner, it's time to put your game faces on." Door's opened from behind us and I spun around, moving to see what would happen next. Several large doll-like creatures emerged, each bearing a seal on it. _Cursed puppets,_ I thought to myself. One swung at Yoichi and I, but we dodged backwards, moving away from the hulking creature. As the doll made to swing at us again, I threw myself to the right, tackling Yoichi and successfully keeping him from being smashed into a spot. The doll moved to right itself, as I stood I yanked Yoichi up saying, "It moves slowly Yoichi and to defeat it-""We don't need to defeat it." Yoichi interrupts me. I look at him shocked and am not paying attention to the doll, who swings at me. Its fist is inches from my face when it freezes. I exhale a shaky breath. That was close. Yoichi pulls me away from it when Sayuri's voice echoes throughout the room. "Kimizuki please report to the hospital. Your sister Mirai is critical condition." I turn my gaze to Yu and Kimizuki, I watch them argue for a minute then watch them both leave. Good, less competition, and I won't have to put up with their arguing.

"All right everyone, back to work!" Sayuri calls out and the dolls begin to move again. The fist slams down where I had been a moment ago and I yell to Yoichi over the din, "Alright, what's your grand epiphany?!" He yells back, "We just have to stay standing, look a bunch of the teams are already down for the count. The goal is to work together to outlast everyone else. The competition as never about fighting the dolls!" I risk a glance around and I notice several groups have fallen, leaving us and a few others. The remaining dolls form the defeated groups return to their holding pens and as I dodge another attack, I realize that Yoichi's right. "You're brilliant Yoichi!" I yell and dodge backwards. "Ha ha, thanks Ami!" Yoichi responds then dodges another attack. I move to retreat once more when I trip. I fall down and am helpless as the doll arcs its fist towards me. I freeze for a moment and that's all it takes for Yoichi to come slamming into me. We slide away from the doll, both of us tumbling over one another.

We come to stop with Yoichi sitting over me. "Are you okay Ami?" Yoichi frantically asks me, scanning me for any injury. I nod, a little shaken up. And a little surprised and with my heart feeling like it's going fifty miles an hour. With that nod, Yoichi exhales and seems to lose some of his frantic energy. "Thank goodness! Oh!" Yoichi seems to realize the issue about the same time I do. He is practically straddling me as we lay on the ground. A blush makes its way onto his cheeks and I'm sure onto mine as well. He scrambles off of me and begins to apologize profusely. I wave it off and take stock of our surroundings. As Yoichi stands and offers me his hand and I'm pulled to my feet I realize that our doll is the only one still out and even it freezes and lumbers back into its pen. "Well done, Yoichi, Ami. You are the last pair standing and have scored top marks for this exam." I smile at Yoichi and he returns my grin as I shove the fluttering feeling his smile gives me deep, deep down.

Sayuri unlocks our hand cuffs and praises us and reminds us to study for the test tomorrow determining the ranking of gear we will receive. I nod and thank her for her praise and advice. I turn to Yoichi and wish him a good evening before hurrying to go find my brother and regain control over my emotions hovering dangerously close to the surface.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I sighed as Yu paced the area in front of the Imperial Demon Army Headquarters. "Honestly, Yu, pacing isn't going to end the meeting faster. And no attacking when he comes." I warned my brother.

"Yeah, Yeah." Yu brushed off my directions. We were waiting for Guren to emerge from a meeting of all the upper military brass. As Guren walked out and Yu caught sight of him I could only roll my eyes as Yu charged at him and leapt into a kick with a roar of, " You can't hide from me today Guren!"

Guren merely smiled and laughed as he caught Yu's foot dragging him off balance, stating with a laugh, "There's no beating around the bush with you." He sent Yu staggering back onto the floor. I sighed then stood up from where I was sitting at the base of one of the pillars. "It's kind of refreshing after dealing with pointless politics all day." Guren continued.

"You know what I'm after, now quit wasting our time and give us our cursed gear. I can handle the demon!" Yu yelled at Guren.

"Honestly, you're such a child Yu, whatever happened to asking nicely?" I grabbed his arm and yanked Yu into a standing position.

"Oh yeah, does it have anything to do with getting vengeance for your family?" Guren asked Yu with a smirk.

I face palmed when Yu responded with, "Of course! It's the only thing I've lived for since you brought me here!"

"Guren don't give him the gear if he's too stupid to even figure out that was a trick question." I stated clearly then proceeded to ignore Yu's glare.

"Ami, nice to see you, still fixing Yu's screw-ups?" Guren asked with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes though I smiled and responded with equal sarcasm, "Oh, Guren you know I live to clean up his messes." Guren laughed then his expression faded to thoughtful and he said, "Fine, let's go make a contract with a demon. Then you'll join us on the front-line."

"Huh? No joke?" Yu looked surprised and excited I on the other hand groaned. What the hell was Guren thinking?!

"Sure, I don't care if you haven't finished your training. That way it's your fault if you die." Yu sprung up with a laugh.

"Guren are you insane?!" I asked the Lieutenant Colonel with an incredulous look. Then I glared at the excited Yu, "Or is the better question are you insane?! You haven't even finished basic training!"

I was furious, he wasn't ready. I was, hell I could've taken mine already, Guren offered to advance me before we were suspended because of my advanced combat skills as I'm a weapons specialist but I refused, wanting to stay with Yu. He hadn't even finished basic training though!

"Ami, last time I checked you were his sister, not his keeper. Let him make his own decisions." I glared but threw up my hands in defeat. "Fine, but I'm coming, I can be promoted and he needs someone to save his sorry ass when he gets into trouble!" I declared and Guren nodded.

"Oh and Yu, one more thing…" Guren said calmly, turning to face my brother. SLAM! His foot fell upon Yu's head. Yu wobbled and then fell over. "That's for trying to kick a superior officer!" Guren yelled I smirked, I told Yu not to attack him. Guren's walked off, with the muttered phrase, "The burdens of command can really take it out of you." I rolled my eyes, debated dragging Yu back to the dorms. I decided against it and left to return to mine and hoped he would wake up before the Hiragis found him lying in front of their headquarters.

The next morning we enter the barracks mess hall, with Yu rubbing his head because of the bump Guren's boot left. "Serves you right, I did warn you." I muttered under my breath.

"What happened to your head? Let me guess, you skipped class and got into another fight?" A saccharine sweet voice called out from our right. We turned to see Shinoa sitting with her fingers laced over and empty breakfast tray.

"You could say that." I muttered.

Yu shot me another glare and then turned to Shinoa asking, "What's it to you?" Yu grumbled.

"You should know Guren doesn't pull any punches by now." Shinoa smirked.

"He should, yet he doesn't" I spoke up with a smirk.

"Uhm why'd you ask if you knew?" Yu asked Shinoa and I raised an eyebrow. Bravo big brother, seems you are smarter than I gave you credit for.

Shinoa gave a slow smile, and responded, "It's fun. Congrats by the way." Yu gave Shinoa a confused look who continues saying, "On the demon contract. He finally approved it didn't he? Of course, Ami, yours has already been approved for some time hasn't it?"

"Yeah, but you know him. Makes a choice on a whim and doesn't follow through." Yu replied. I snorted. Yu was a bit biased when it came to Guren.

"You can't fool me, I can tell you're nearly bursting at the seams." Shinoa says and punctuates her statement with an elbow jab to Yu's stomach.

"No I'm not!"" Yu frowns.

"You sound like a two year old." I stated bemusedly.

"Don't' worry about it, Lieutenant Colonel Guren may have a razor sharp tongue and a general fondness for brutality but he always keeps his promises." Shinoa called back over her shoulder.

"Finally, it's happening." Yu muttered and I frowned then snapped my fingers in front of his face.

"Earth to Yu, you sound like a lunatic talking to yourself like that. Now come on we'll be late for class." I snapped. Yu shook his head and we made our way to the classrooms.

"Alright, pay attention! I've already finished grading your written exams so I'll just be handing those out and calling it a day, okay?" Sayuri announced. "Remember, this score is crucial to your overall cursed gear ranking. Remember, the way you perform in class is just as important as how you perform in training. I expect those of you with less than passing grades to put extra effort into your studies from now on." Sayuri finished passing out the papers and the comparisons began.

I was satisfied with a ninety-five. Yu grimaced looking at his paper and when Shinoa walked up behind him he sprawled over it, attempting to hide his score.

"Let me see!" Shinoa exclaimed and snatched away his paper.

"Give it back!" Yu yelled as Shinoa danced around the classroom avoiding Yu's attempts to retrieve his test.

"Wow! Would you look at this score! How impressive!" Shinoa squealed while Yu tried to snatch it, while yelling, "Cut it out!"

Before he could get his hands on however, she dodged and he went flying into the classroom door.

"Wow Yu, do you have a thing for that door, you come into contact with it almost every class period we have in here." I remarked.

"You've really outdone yourself, they say only super humans can get a score like this!" Shinoa continued, running to front of the class while Yu gave chase.

"Quit being such a pest!" Yu yelled.

Shinoa responded, "Why? Don't you want to share it? You must be so very proud!" Shinoa laughed and finally Yu caught her and pulled her around to face him. She smiled innocently and revealed her hands had nothing in them.

Some boys at the front did and began to remark how Yu had gotten a zero. He groaned and dove for the paper and crammed it into his pocket. I put my head down in shame. I love Yu but I had been reminding him about this exam for weeks prior, couldn't he have bothered to study, even a little bit?

He stormed back to where Shinoa sat and opened fire on her, "What's your problem?! Can't you find someone else to annoy?!"

Shinoa smirked and said in a prim and proper tone, "Now is that anyway to talk to a lady? Especially one who's trying to help you fit in? You could try to show some gratitude."

Yu slammed his hands on her desk and growled, "You can take your gratitude and choke on it. I'll tell you what I keep telling Guren, I don't need friends to stick it to the bloodsuckers, are we clear?!"

"Temper, temper." I called from the other side of the class.

Yu ignored me in favor of listening to Shinoa's next statement, "We're clear as crystal, just don't come crying to me when you realize you're completely worthless by yourself." Shinoa stated coolly. I winced, that one had to sting. Yu steam rolled over it however, loudly declaring that he would succeed.

As Shinoa and Yu bickered I slumped into my seat and put my head down. I gave up on them, I was officially tapping out on trying to contain my brother.

"Now, now you two," Yoichi chided them. Yu and Shinoa turned to look at Yoichi, who smiled and stated, "Well, Yu was imprisoned in the vampire city for most of his childhood, so it makes sense that his English and Latin are better than his Japanese for reading and writing, right? It couldn't be helped this time, right?" I smiled, Yoichi was kind trying to explain away Yu's failings. However, Shinoa had to burst his bubble.

"But Ami was imprisoned as well and she scored decently. How do you explain that?" Yoichi blushed and rubbed his head as he struggled to come up with an answer.

"I study, that's how." Shinoa smirked at Yu, who whipped his head around as Kimizuki's voice filled the air.

"Is your head filled with shit or something?" He declared in a bored tone.

"Tch." my teeth grated at his snide commentary. I could stand Shinoa's teasing of Yu but I could not stand Kimizuki's.

"What?!" Yu's enraged voice filled the air. Kimizuki was looking over Yu's test as I waited for the inevitable fist fight that I would end with a punch to both their heads. "What's your problem?! What was _your_ score then, you arrogant ass?! It must have been really good huh?!" Yu demanded to know as he attempted to retrieve his test from Kimizuki.

Kimizuki merely rustled his papers with his foot and stated in a calm tone, "From right to left, Latin, English, and Japanese spellcraft. You know, I'm not particularly skilled in languages other than Japanese, so I'm no match for a study-abroad poser student like you." All the tests were one hundreds. It made my blood boil and I vowed that if we ever took another exam, he would not best me again.

Yu grimaced as though he had been punched then declared loudly, "Before I kill the vampires, I'm going to kill you!"

Kimizuki swung to his feet and yelled right back, "Oh yeah, bring it on!" As they went for the first few blows I stepped up and got in between them.

"That's enough you two. I would hate to crack your skulls together and have you two lose any more precious brain cells. You do have so few left."

Sayuri attempted to call the class back to order but Yu and Kimizuki kept going at it. Naturally, I stepped in and began to give them the smack-down of their lives. I stopped in my efforts though, when the door to the classroom creaked open and Guren stepped in.

"What's going on? It's always so damn loud in here." Guren groaned. Sayuri greeted him with a smile, it was a tad obvious that she had a certain… _liking_ for the dear Lieutenant Colonel. My watching was interrupted however, when Yu came crashing into me, sending us both tumbling to the ground. My eyes burned as I glared at Kimizuki who was smirking at me. I gave him a cold smile and prepared to leap him and rip his smirk off of his face when Yu seemed to realize Guren was here.

The two idiots ceased their fighting as the colonel turned his attention to the back. Yoichi gave me a hesitant smile and offered me his hand. I took it and gave him a nod of thanks. I turned my attention to the boys to see the two of them absolutely demanding Guren give them their cursed gear. I sighed, these fools were vampire bait. They began to argue like children each insisting they were better than the other. I just let them go at it. They would stop eventually… I hoped.

They punched each other simultaneously and both recoiled. Guren began to confer with Sayuri and I edged closer to them to hear what they were saying. "-far stronger than I was at 16." Sayuri commented.

"What about the others?" Guren asked.

"Surprisingly, Yoichi Saotome by far has the highest stability against demons. He is matched by Ami, but as I understand it, she is here by choice, as she could've already been promoted." Sayuri gave a grin to Guren who remained calm.

"Ok, then. I don't like to complicate things so let's give it a shot." A smirk broke out on his face so I moved back towards Yu and Yoichi. Whatever was coming couldn't be good, not with that grin. Sayuri began to protest as Guren prepared to unsheathe his sword.

"Oh? Are you planning on attacking them Lieutenant Colonel Guren?" Shinoa asked with amusement as she stood from her seat at a desk.

Guren ignored her, merely stating, "If you die, blame it on yourself for not trying hard enough!"

He unsheathed his sword and held it out in front of him, then plunged it into the ground. The room darkened and almost seemed to glow with a malevolent light. It stopped Yu and Kimizuki's fighting as the room began to resonate with an unearthly tone. Several of the other students slumped over as though life had suddenly left them. I could barely keep my footing due to the resonation, but I felt no ill effects. The lights were swinging madly in the ceiling and cracks began to appear in the walls. Whatever Guren was doing, it certainly wasn't something that was meant to be helpful.

"Wh-What is this?" Yu asked with a note of disbelief in his tone, he remained standing and appeared to have experienced no ill effects either. Kimizuki was still standing though he was clutching his chest as though something was wrong deep inside.

Yoichi was completely unaffected, asking with a panic, "What? What's wrong with everyone?" I knelt next to a fallen student and checked her pulse, nodding when I could detect a weak one.

"They appear to be alright, just unconscious." I announced to the boys. Sayuri was one her feet but appeared to be wielding a slip of paper that countered the effects of Guren's sword. "Ok, done." Guren announced. He removed his sword and sheathed it. The effects vanished as soon as it was sheathed. The classroom returned to only students still standing were Shinoa, Yu, Yoichi, Kimizuki, two others and myself.

"All right then! You guys that are still conscious have a chance then! If you continue your training, you could move onto the contract ceremony for Cursed Gear. You guys that are still standing get four stars. I will grant you a tryout for the Black Demon Series, the same rank as my sword, right now." Guren declared. The other two suddenly collapsed to the floor, leaving only us. "So it's Yu, Kimizuki, Ami, and Yoichi that are still standing then. I wish _you'd_ passed out." Guren stated with a blank expression, directing his final words to Shinoa who let out a laugh. "Let's hurry up and go." Guren stood at the door with an impatient tilt to his face.

The five of us followed him out the door and down some stairs, to where I assumed the Cursed Gear was kept. I walked in the back with Yoichi, and watched with suspicion as Sayuri and Guren whispered back and forth. What were they up to? Yoichi remained silent, then we came to a sudden halt.

"Hey, Yoichi, you want to avenge your sister who was killed by a vampire, right?" Guren suddenly questioned Yoichi. "Uh, um…" Yoichi seemed unsure as to how to respond and Guren continued speaking, "Then you'll put your life on the line, right?"

"M-my life?" Yoichi stammered out. "Or are you going to quit? You can leave if you're afraid of dying." Guren finished. Yoichi seemed shocked and Yu spoke, stating,

"Go back Yoichi. This isn't the place for a nice guy like you to be." Shinoa remained silent and Kimizuki spoke up.

"I agree. You should go." I glared at Yu and Kimizuki.

"He has as much right to be here as the two of you. Do what you want Yoichi, but remember," I dared a glance a Yu, "don't let your revenge become your purpose in life." Yu gave me a glare and I avoided his gaze. My advice was to him as much as Yoichi.

Yoichi grabbed his head and put his hands over his ears. I wanted to calm him but I didn't want to influence his decision. He had to decide completely on his own. He lowered his hands after a moment and declared,

"Lieutenant Colonel Guren, I'll do it! Because I want more strength! I want enough strength so I don't have to lose anybody close to me anymore!" I gave him a smile, a worried one. I don't think he quite knew what he was getting into, but his decision had been made. There was no going back. Yu looked away from Yoichi after his declaration and for once I didn't know what was running through his head. Guren smirked, while Sayuri looked as worried as I was, I merely had more practice concealing it.

"Ok, then let's get going. We'll move to the contract ceremony." Guren announced as we moved further into the maze of came to iron doors, sealed tight. Sayuri keyed in a code and they opened, revealing and elevator. We stepped inside and traveled into the darkness in silence. Yoichi stood in a corner, his tension almost tangible in the air. Yu thumped him on the back and he jumped.

"Hey getting cold feet isn't going to help you now." Yu reminded Yoichi quietly. "You made your choice, right?"

Kimizuki added, "Yeah." Yoichi said quietly. I stood next to him quietly and almost against my will, I grabbed his hand with my own. He looked at me startled and I merely gave him a small quirk of my lips. I squeezed his hand once then released it. He stared at me for a moment then blushed bright red.

"What about you Kimizuki?" Shinoa questioned, speaking for the first time since her exchange with Guren in the classroom. "You were standing earlier but you had to put your hands on the desk. You saw it too, didn't you Yoichi?" she continued.

Yoichi stuttered for a minute then finally responded, "Oh, um, yes." Kimizuki grew slightly pale and turned to Yoichi, yelling,

"S-stop paying attention to small things." Yu spoke up then.

"I saw it too, Kimizuki. You seemed to be in a lot of agony." He smirked at Kimizuki, who turned red and began to almost puff up preparing to yell some more, when Guren spoke.

"Don't get too comfortable yourself, Yu. The demon you're going to make a contract with is different from before. If you let your guard down, it will possess and kill you in a heartbeat." Guren rebuked Yu, who merely responded with,

"I know."

The elevator came to stop and the doors opened. It revealed a huge room with demonic faces carved into the walls.

"Ok, we're here." Guren verbalized the obvious. We entered the room in which there were seven binding circles such as the one in the school's basement. Sayuri remained in the elevator and waved a silent goodbye as the doors shut, leaving us down here with the Cursed Gear.

We entered into the center of the room and Yu asked in disbelief, "What _is_ this place?"

Guren calmly answered, "It's where we store what you want most; the weapons holding the highest ranking demon kings."

"The highest ranking…" Yu murmured. I nudged his shoulder and murmured in response,

"Yu, focus, get your head in the game."

Yu ignored me, as per the usual, and asked Guren, "So if I have one of these, I can kill vampires?" Guren responded without turning around,

"Well, that's up to your skill." As Yu continued to pepper Guren with questions. I sidled closer to Yoichi.

"Are you alright?" I asked him. He gave me a nod, though his tight expression said otherwise. Guren regained my attention as he began explaining the process.

"Pick a weapon you like and enter the spell circle. The contract ceremony will start automatically when you touch a weapon. If you don't lose to the demon, you'll gain its power."

"And if you do lose?" Kimizuki interrupted.

"You'll either become a man-eating demon, or the demon's power will crush and kill you. On second though, you'll die either way. If you start to monster on us, I'll kill you myself." I could hear Yoichi gulp from next to me and I glanced in his direction. This was serious, my reassurance would mean nothing. Yu was already halfway up a set of stairs and he laughed,

"Fine by me. I've been waiting a long time for a chance like this. Besides, I'd rather fight with a demon than sit through another boring lecture. The vampires will suffer. For Mika and my family I will exterminate every last one of them. It's what I live for."

I stared up at him in shock. He had never said Mika's name in my hearing for the longest time. He stood in front of a katana that was buried in salt. Kimizuki had moved in front of a pair of dual swords. I had moved in front of a double-bladed sword like what I currently possessed. Yoichi had moved to a powerful looking bow.

"Then draw, and let it begin." Guren directed.

"Alright then, come on you bastard, LET'S DANCE!" Yu thundered as he yanked the sword out of its sheath and stepped into the spell circle.

I took a calming breath, then pulled my blade from the salt and stepped back into the spell circle. The blade glowed a fierce green, and my world went white.


End file.
